After working with puppet masters Bil Baird and Morey Bunin and graduating from New York University’s film school with classmate Martin Scorsese, independent filmmaker Joseph Jacoby was determined to become a Hollywood player. His first film, Shame, Shame… Everybody Knows Her Name (1969), was shot in 10 days, with unknown actors and a budget of $34,500, and was presented in one of MoMA’s first Cineprobe programs. Exhibiting a taste for realism and social satire, Jacoby produced four major works, including the autobiographically inspired Hurry Up, or I’ll Be 30 (1973), the ensemble comedy The Great Bank Hoax (1978), and the Children’s Video Theater musical Davy Jones’ Locker (1995). Jacoby introduces each of these films. Following the 8:00 p.m. screening on March 16, he signs copies of his memoir, Boy on a String: From Cast-Off Kid to Filmmaker through the Magic of Dreams (Carroll & Graf, 2006).
Organized by Ron Magliozzi, Assistant Curator, Research and Collections, Department of Film and Media. Special thanks to Warner Bros.